| "Movitz blåste en konsert" | |
|---|---|
| Art song | |
 First page of sheet music | |
| English | Charon blows his horn |
| Written | 1785 |
| Text | poem by Carl Michael Bellman |
| Language | Swedish |
| Published | 1790 in Fredman's Epistles |
| Scoring | voice and cittern |
Charon i Luren tutar (Charon blows his horn) is epistle No. 79 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. The epistle is subtitled "Afsked til Matronorna, synnerligen til Mor Maja Myra i Solgränden vid Stortorget, Anno 1785" (Farewell to the Matrons, especially to Mother Maja Myra in Solgränd by Stortorget, Anno 1785). The song describes Jean Fredman's departure from the world.
The ferryman of the underworld in classical mythology, Charon, invites Fredman to come with him, suggesting to some scholars that Fredman had already died and crossed the River Styx, but had wandered back to his old haunts in Stockholm. Even as Charon fetches him, he drinks a mug of ale, a liquid that is ascribed almost magical properties; it runs down his clothes, so that before death Fredman is baptised in beer, recalling to scholars the sponge soaked in sour wine that refreshes Jesus on the cross. Scholars have noted the presence of the figure of Death in the epistle, accompanying his last revelries.